The anti-asbestos Jussieu Committee said, in a statement, 22 tonnes of the carcinogenic material remained on the Clemenceau, after basic decontamination work had been done in Toulon, southeastern France.

"To do the most difficult part of the asbestos decontamination in India is both illegal and irresponsible," the Jussieu Committee said.

The French defence ministry said France was training Indian managers who are directing the decontamination project at Alang, in the Indian province of Gujarat.

The group's legal action states that the decontamination work in India does not conform with the specifications of public tenders for the dismantling of ships which stipulate that the work must be undertaken in a country from the Council of Europe. French law also bans the sale of asbestos under any circumstances.

The French defence ministry decision also violates the Basel Convention on international movements of toxic waste, the French environmental code which bans the exportation of waste when the receiving country does not have the expertise to safely treat it, and also European Union regulations, the committee said.

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